Umbrella tip and tool for use therewith



Nov; 24, 1959 L; MALIN 2,914,008 UMBRELLA TIP AND TOOL FOR USE THEREWITH" Filed Aug. 19, 1957 Fig. .l

1 A INVENTOR. 1.2 Z0405 Mai/)2 Mun/7, L/ddy, Daniels ivy/Ware ATTORNEYS United States Patent This invention relates to umbrella tips and tools employed for the purpose of attaching such tips to an umbrella cover.

In the past, various types of umbrella tips have been proposed and produced, formed from solid metal bar stock, metal castings, and moldings of plastic material and the like. Generally such umbrella tips have openings for thread, extending transversely therethrough, by which the tips may be sewed to the cover of an umbrella, as by passing a needle and thread back and forth through the cover and the tip opening.

In carrying out this processtools are utilized, comprising essentially a mandrel on which the tips are placed and positioned, so as to hold themduring the sewing operation.

It has also been proposed in the past to provide'a positioning means on the mandrel, and to construct the umbrella tips with cooperable positioning means whereby the thread openings in the tips are always located in alignment with the needle carrying the thread. While this prior proposal has been satisfactory in general, it has involved the use of tips formed from solid bar stock, or else tips formed as castings or as molded plastic parts. The fabrication of such tips is somewhat complicated and costly, and the mandrel which is used is costly to produce since it requires special machining operations which are not of the simplest nature. Moreover, where umbrella tips are made in the form of sheet metal stampings, the positioning means of this prior art above referred to is unsuitable and not practical to employ.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved combination of sheet metal umbrella tip and tool comprising a supporting mandrel for such tip, wherein means are provided to accurately position the tip on the mandrel so that the sewing hole of the tip is at all times properly positioned for reception of the needle and thread.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved combination umbrella tip and tool comprising a supporting mandrel for such tip, which operates in a reliable and eifective manner at all times, without likelihood of the tip being improperly positioned for receiving the needle and thread.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet metal umbrella tip and supporting mandrel therefor, having all of the above advantages and which is nevertheless simple and economical to fabricate, thereby reducing costs to an absolute minimum.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherever possible in the several views, in which:

Figure 1 is a top or plan view of a portion of an umbrella showing a rib extremity and improved tip attached thereto, $.I1d showing the umbrella cover sewed in place, to the tip.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in 2,914,008 Patented Nov. 24, 1959 I 2 vertical section, of the assemblage of Fig. 1, taken along the une 22 of Fig. l.

Hg. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of an umbrella tip a orting mandrel made in accordance with the inshown in conjunction with a portion of the um- .'.a cover and a needle having thread in readiness for sewing the cover to the tip.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top or plan view of the improved umbrella tip of the invention, per se.

Fig. 5 is a top or plan view of the improved supporting mandrel of the invention.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, there is illustrated in enlarged form a sheet metal tip 10 made in accordance with the invention, and a supporting mandrel 11 therefor, the latter being carried by a supporting block or base 12.

As shown, the tip 10 comprises an elongate body 14 having at its outer extremity a bulbous closed tip portion 15, said body including a tapered portion 16 extending from the bulbous tip 15 to a point intermediate the ends of the body.

Near the said intermediate point on the body 14, the walls thereof are provided with an annular constriction 14a, and adjacent said constriction with oppositely disposed openings 17 in alignment-with each other, thereby to provide an opening in the tip for the reception of a sewing needle 18 having thread 19. As is customary, an

umbrella cover'20 is placed over the tip 10 prior to the needle 18 and thread 19 being passed through the openings 17, thereby to secure the cover 20 to the tip 10.

It will be noted that, for the purpose of passing the needle 18 and thread 19 through the opening 17 in the tip 10, the latter must be so positioned that the openings 17 in the walls are located in accurate vertical alignment with each other and with the needle. If such openings are not properly located and disposed, the needle 18 will strike a solid wall portion of the tip 10 and be deflected and bent, and/ or broken, depending on the circumstances.

In accordance with the present invention, in conjunction with the sheet metal construction of the tip 10, I provide a novel and improved means for insuring that the openings 17 of the tip may always be accurately positioned in such vertical alignment when the tip is properly placed in operative position on the mandrel 11. In carrying out the invention, referring to Fig. 4, I provide a pair of notches 22 in the side walls of the tip body 14 at the open end thereof. For cooperation with the notches 22, I provide projections 23 on the mandrel 11, adapted to be received in the notches for rotatably positioning the tip 10 on the mandrel. Referring to Figs. 3 and 5, the projections 23 may be advantageously formed by the provision of transverse pins located in a transverse bore in the mandrel 11, the end portions of the pins 23 projecting above and below the mandrel and constituting the said projections.

Also, preferably the mandrel 11 is provided with an elongate, longitudinally extended diametric slit 26, extending from its free end past the pins 23 in a direction toward the supporting block 12. By such construction, the normal diameter of the mandrel 11 where it is intended to be received in the tip 10 is slightly larger than the inside diameter of the said tip, and a slight compression of the mandrel will be effected when the tip is placed thereon, thereby to cause a secure frictional retention of the tip on the mandrel.

It will now be understood that in the process of sewing the tips 10 to the umbrella cover 20, each tip is whereupon the sewing of the cover is effected in the usual well-known manner.

It will be understood, from a consideration of the above structure that I have provided a novel and improved, greatly simplified and economical-to-fabricate sheet metal tip construction and supporting mandrel therefor, which cooperate in an efiective manner to accurately position the tip on the mandrel preparatory to the sewing operation. By the provision of the two noltches 22 at the open end of the tip body 14, the said body may be located in two different positions on the mandrel 11, but each such position will be characterized by the thread openings 17 being disposed in vertical alignment with each other, and being properly positioned for the reception of the needle 18 and thread 19. Moreover, the tip 10 will be securely frictionally held ,on the mandrel by virtue of the slitted construction of the latter, as required to accomplish the sewing operation. 7 v My improved sheet-metal tip construction is seen to be extremely simple, and the forming of the notches 22 may be effected by a simple and economical press operation. Also, the provision of the transverse pins 23 in the mandrel 11 may be carried outby a simple machining operation involving a transverse drilling of the mandrel, whereupon the pins may be press fitted in place.

Variations and modifications maybe made within the scope of the claim, and portions of the improvements maybe used without others.

In combination, a tool 'for supporting umbrella tips, comprising a mandrel and means for supporting the mandrel 'in operative position, said mandrel having a longitudinal slit in its end portion, said portion being arranged for insertion into said umbrella tips, and having transverse pins disposed respectively on the two parts of said end portion formed by the said slit and projecting laterally in opposite directions therefrom; an umbrella tip comprising a sheet metal member having an elongate tubular body, one end of said body being formed to constitute a closed bulbous tip, the walls of said body intermediate its ends having oppositely disposed openings for the reception of thread, and the other end of said body being open to admit said mandrel and the edge of said end having a pair of oppositely disposed notches extending between the inside and outside walls of the body, said notches being adapted to receive the projecting portions of the pins on the mandrel for the purpose of positioning the body to effect a predetermined relationship between the said openings in the walls of the body and the pins on the said mandrel, said slit in the mandrel extending into the central portion of the mandrel an appreciable distance past the said pins to enable acompressionof the mandrel to be effected by the umbrella tip, the said pins being spaced apart by the slit to prevent the pins from limiting the compression of the mandrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

